[PAULH]

HI
just thought i would post some feedback i am fairly new to scalextric after coming back some 25yrs after my last scalextric and have been happy pottering around my layout with my fairly good collection of cars from all the major manufacturers as i am more of a collector than anything else as i have no one to race against except my daughter or odd friend who drops in i have read for some time now about trueing your tyres and lubricating etc and never given it any thought as i do not race and thought this was for racers etc .
Well i have a lot of older cars etc that the tyres are so bad that they are unusable on my layout due to lack of grip etc. (they stay and spin) lol and it is then i remember the tyre truing artical and how it can breath new life into tired(no pun intended)

tyres so i gote my fine glasspaper got my 2 identical mini coopers and tried one witout the truing and it got around eventually with much sliding and drifting (fun actually) and then i lubed one and trued the hard cracked tyres of the other the differance was amazing i could actually fly around the track with little or no sliding (no magnets in these babies either)

also the cars ran so much smoother and quieter so the upshot off all this is i have approximately 80 cars of which i would only actually use half of them and i have started the above tuning to the rest of my cars and i would never have believed the differance if i had not witnessed it myself my cars lap times have dropped by over a second a lap the carrera bentley and audi performed much better also although they seem a bit noisey although they are fine when running without the body ?
so i have been converted i wanna tune everything upto the max!

thx guys .

 

[Difflock]

Addictive isn't it?
As I've said before, it is a fundamental right of each and every slot jockey to have round wheels and tyres on their cars. If you haven't seen the phenomenon of untouched cars with your own eyes then indeed you would not have believed it.

Try glueing the motors in if they move around too

Hope moped rider doesn't read this, it may be classed as cheating

(Sorry Mope, but I had to! )

Mark.

 

[McLaren]

I read the title and thought "I've got to see this! How on earth do you tune a newbie?".

Lotus

 

[PAULH]

GLUE MOTORS

maybe i will just tape one or two in for research puposes and see what happens

i must need help this tyre mullarky is great i just have a pile of cars to do even some new porsche gt3's i thought they were just poor performers or my track was in need of cleaning but no i do the tyres and they are now missiles oodles of grip

i love this ! only another 30/40 to do

 

[mtucker666]

If the tyres are so far gone that even remvoing the top layer by truing does not breathe new life in to them there is still hope.

Glue them on to the rims (some superglue) and remove the tyre/hub combo from the rear axle. Drop them in to a film cannister full of wd40 or brake fluid. Leave for a couple of hours and remove. Let dry, give them a quick truing and see if they have regained their softness. You can leave them in the fluid for a couple of days but they will expand enormously so I suggest a max of 4hrs.

Matt

 

[Wankel Ickx]

Whoa! Easy on the WD-40 there, I swear I never left some Nincos in for anything like an hour and they ballooned up to Monster Pick-up tyres. D'oh!

My advice, don't go swanning off thinking, "I'll come back and look at those tyres after creosoting the garden fence." By the time you return, you may have some truck tyres too.

Of course, your fence may be a different length to mine.

Lotus, darn you! You beat me to it.

 

[Tropi]

QUOTE How on earth do you tune a newbie?".
Not sure but I know some people who can wind them up!

As a matter of interest, is it possible to buy WD40 in any other form than as an aerosol, which is a mellish hessy way of getting a film cannisterful?

 

[mtucker666]

Ah - thanks tropi - meant 3in1 oil rather than wd40! Sorry if you've been spraying your wd40 cans in to little film cannisters.

Matt

 

[PAULH]

DOH!

3 IN 1 NOW U TELL ME BEEN TRYING FOR THE LAST HOUR TO FILL A FILM CANISTER WITH WD40 I THINK I HAVE USED BEST PART OF A TIN TO FILL A CANNISTER

 

[peter]

just a remark - I have been a little unwilling to glue the motors in my cars - but it seems to me that a bit of 'ducktape' works alright. At least to me tape seems less - eh - 'drastic' than glue..

I am sure that glue is fine - it just does not feel right somehow...

//peter

 

[sprint]

Try two parts 5 min epoxy to glue motors : no damage at all and it will come off easily when needed; I put the glue well mixed and warmed with an air gun ( only a little!) between the chassis and the motor, then cover the joint with tape; after removing the tape the result is a seamless gap filled with hard epoxy resin.

If you need to remove the motor, just flex a little the chassis, push the motor from the underside and remove the glue with a model #11 blade.
Ciao

 

[JOHN SECCHI]

I have been using a hot glue gun to fix the motors in plastic cars and it works well, it sets quickly and is not as ridgid as epoxy so it will take a lot of punishment without breaking the glue joint and when you want to remove it you just cut and peel it off, easy.
[oneofwos]

 

[cheater]

Another adhesive that might work for gluing motors is RTV silicone adhesive. It sticks to darn near anything and it might just be possible that the slight "give" would be beneficial from a vibration absorption standpoint. It is also fairly easily removed if needed.

I haven't tried this (my slot cars all have their motors soldered in!) so understand it is just a suggestion.

BTW, WD-40 is indeed available in non-aerosol packaging, though only in gallon and larger quantities.

 

[Tropi]

Thanks for that info Cheater - knowing it actually IS available makes it more worthwhile to go trying to track it down, although a gallon is rather a lot!
Although I suppose a US gallon is not quite as much as the big fat overweight and decadent imperial lump! (5/6).

Aerosols are ideal for many purposes but does that stuff get up your nose with a touch of over enthusiasm on the button!

A very belated welcome to SF by the way - your experienced input is absolutely invaluable and MUCH appreciated.

 

[cheater]

Tropi, your welcome is very much appreciated.

I feel somewhat like an alien invader here but hope that I can on occasion provide a different viewpoint that is useful for the regulars.

FWIW, McMaster-Carr (www.mcmaster.com) prices single gallons at a very reasonable US$13.41. The 55-drum is a bit pricey at US$579.60, though!

BTW, the RTV silicone adhesive I mentioned is what we have used very successfully for many years to attach the plastic badges to the stainless steel hub caps on XJ6 SIII Jaguars.

 

[Tropi]

Cheater
I assure you it's an honour to have transatlantic visitors with your background to visit us!
I started out at OWH a good number of years back now and it's really great to see some of the familiar names from there popping in here from time to time. The only alien we have here is actually a home-grown one!
(and relatively harmless!)

The input from widely spread sources can only improve the quality of the information available here and promote wider ranging friendships - long may it continue. It's not good to remain too insular.

RTVs (Room Temperature Vulcanising Silicone Rubber) are interesting - such an incredible range of different types. The most interesting fact I picked up is that some of them don't produce the usual acetic acid condensation, but methyl alcohol instead - easier on the eyes and nose and less corrosive on the metal, always assuming there actually IS any metal in many modern so-called 'chassis'!
RTV Silicone

I've only used a similar material once so far and not at all sure what it really was - it being just the left-overs from a tube of goo supplied with the ceramic tiles for my bathroom! It seems to work well in holding more or less standard S-cans in place, but they obviously have nothing like the power you 'speed crazed morons' are so familar with!

A lady friend is bringing me a sample of Shoo-Goo all the way from sunny California in a a few weeks and I'll check this out too (after I have fixed my shoes of course). Most of these specialist products are much more readily available in USA AND they are often less than half our exorbitant prices even when we can find them on this side of the pond.

 

[cheater]

Tropi, bathtub caulk was the first RTV product that I can recall seeing, and yes, some of the more recent RTVs do not generate acetic acid during the curing process.

I'm not at all certain that the acetic acid is a problem from a corrosion standpoint, as I believe (but could very well be wrong) that this is generated only during the curing phase. The disappearance of the vinegar smell is what I use to determine whether the RTV has fully cured. In any case, my personal experience with RTVs has not shown a problem with subsequent corrosion, at least in any application where I have used it.

I do agree that RTV wouldn't work for our 1/24 commercial motors!

BTW, I'll be covering the Rad Trax Slot Car Convention for one of the other BBSs, (not OWH) and hope to be able to post pics and text each day. Check it out, if you can. I'll be heading for the Atlanta airport in a couple of hours.

 

[taxi]

QUOTE read the title and thought "I've got to see this! How on earth do you tune a newbie?".

If the newbie was female, you could offer to adjust the tension of her G-string.......

Rob

 

[Tropi]

Rad Trax get together is one I would love to attend and might just make it next year - just to watch. There are always great stories afterwards and I do hope some of you guys will tell some of them here too - I look forward to it immensely!